How does Biden's win matter to India?

Update: 2020-11-08 23:28 IST

Joe Biden 

Yes, the hurly-burly is done, and the battle is lost and won. Now that the US is going to have Democrat Joe Biden as its president, people in India seem to be happier than the rest of the world. But why? Will Biden's rule in the US change the socio-economic-political equations in our country? Why these much of hoo-ha and kerfuffle over the US elections, as if India's soul lies in the US? If we gave a small amount of thought about who should rule our country during balloting, the country might not be undergoing such a tough time as today with 'democracy' and 'liberty' confining only on the unread pages of our Constitution.

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According to Census Bureau's 2018 American Community Survey (ACS), the number of Indians in US were 17.8 lakh in 2010 which by 2018 had gone up to 26.5 lakh - 49 per cent increase. Newly arrived immigrants from India in 2017 were 1.6 lakh which in 2018 declined to 88,000. On the other hand, the Chinese population in the US increased from 21.6 lakh to 28.4 lakh between 2010 and 2018 - signifying 32 percent rise, according to the data. So, if our happiness and joy about Joe Biden being the US president is about the welfare of 26.5 lakh Indians living in that country, it blatantly reveals the lack of common sense among the Indian masses who still do not understand the severity of racial abuse they are going through.

Or if all the mirth is about Kamala Harris being the second in command of world's superpower, sorry, she is not Indian Prime Minister! The US administration, whoever is at the helm, is concerned about its own people and its security and of course not Indians' wellbeing. Of course, comparing to Donald Trump's rule, Biden's regime is going to be good to India up to certain extent as the new President-elect seems to have a more genial approach towards India, as is understood from his past records and statements.

It may be recalled that even before he became the Vice President in the Barack Obama administration, he had advocated a stronger relationship with India.

Once has to admit the fact that even when Barack Obama who was a Senator then was initially hesitant to support the Indo-US nuclear deal, Biden led the charge and worked with both Democrats and Republicans, to approve the nuclear deal in the US Congress in 2008. But that is all about defence ties and trade alliances and not anything that the poor Indian can relate to. It is true that in August 2016, the two countries signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), the first of the three "foundational pacts" for deeper military cooperation.

It was meant to refill each other's military bases, and access supplies, spare parts and services from each other's land facilities, air bases, and ports, which can then be reimbursed. In fact, Biden's attitude towards the human rights issues in India, especially since Kamala Harris — his Vice-President — is a fierce advocate for human rights, it comes as a major concern for the Indian government, which has got support from the Trump administration on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

Biden is understood to be unhappy about the measures that Indian government has taken with the implementation and aftermath of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act into law. Let's keep out fingers crossed! 

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